“How long will she need the machine?” Kevin asked.

He stood right behind my chair, his hand resting heavy on my shoulder.

“The next seventy-two hours will tell us whether her lungs can stabilize,” Nurse Elena said.

“Will she make it through the weekend on the ventilator?” I asked.

Nurse Elena tapped her pen once on the clipboard before looking at me.

“We take it hour by hour, Mrs.

Bennett.